Digital Age Slow to Arrive in Rural America

As MMP and it's partners prepare for the launch of several public computer centers in Philadelphia, small towns and cities across America continue to struggle for what is now a basic necessity: communication. The New York Times article below profiles our small towns and the impact this digital divide between urban and rural America has on people's ability to participate fully in our democracy.

Broadband internet service is essential today for people to apply for jobs, do homework, access medical records, stay informed about news and world happenings (the list goes on). Yet the large telecommunications companies don't see the return on investment as large enough to build out these services in rural areas, leaving much of America off-line and isolated from one another and the rest of the world.

Beyond just meeting our basic needs, lack of access to these new and profound communications tools cuts people off from one another, impeding our ability to affect the decisions made about us and our lives.

“This is about whether rural communities are going to participate in our democratic society. If you don’t have effective broadband, you are cut out of things that are really core to who we are as a country.” - Brian Depew, with Center for Rural Affairs in Nebraska

Read more here: "Digital Age Is Slow to Arrive in Rural America": http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/18/us/18broadband.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

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Sharon Jones, who lives just outside Coffeeville, Ala., is a volunteer with the Clarke County Emergency Management Agency. (NY Times)

Ms. Jones travels 45 minutes to her daughter’s home to use the Internet, and keeps a list of e-mails she needs to send. (NY Times)

Coffeeville High School in Coffeeville, Ala., where only 2 out of 10 students have internet access at home. (NY Times)